Rising Cost of EpiPens Forcing Some Allergy Sufferers to Switch to Syringes

Denise Ure was midway through an afternoon snack when she tasted the peanut. Driving home from work in peak hour traffic, she had opened up a prepackaged bag of coconut cashews, a snack she had been eating for years without problems. Despite her peanut allergy, tree nuts are safe for her to eat. Upon tasting the peanut, she spat the nut mixture into a vomit bag she kept in the car and waited to see if she would experience any symptoms of a severe allergic reaction. "I had a couple of choices. Pull over and call 911 and use the EpiPen, or drive to the hospital using a low traffic route and use the EpiPen if my body started displaying objective signs of anaphylaxis," Ure wrote in her blog. As she wasn't experiencing any symptoms of anaphylaxis, she chose to drive to the nearest hospital. "I had my auto-injector hovered over my leg, and ready to inject, but I could not rationalize using it without my body displaying objective signs of anaphylaxis," Ure told Healthline. Ure never developed symptoms that day she deemed bad enough to justify using the EpiPen. But she says the price of the auto-injector was just as much a factor in her decision not to use it. "There is psychological resistance to using an EpiPen. You don't want to waste a very expensive auto-injector on a false alarm," she said. EpiPens vs. syringes Ure is one of many allergy sufferers across the United States who finds the cost of EpiPens to be prohibitive. The August 2016 issue of Consumer Reports shows ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news